Donald Trump in effect declared defeat as he walked away from his Hanoi summit with Kim Jong-Un last month, and he might well be advised to do the same in trade negotiations with China before he stumbles even deeper into trouble.Team Trump has opened up a Pandora’s Box and is ill-equipped to deal with what’s inside.Japan could be next on Trump’s hit list for a trade deal and Tokyo fears there could be a currency element in the deal, as there may be yet with China. If so, this would…

Using different methodologies, the World Bank’s index for “ease of doing business” and the Heritage Foundation’s recently published “index of economic freedom” result in contrasting rankings. The key takeaway? It would seem that being an easy place to do business does not guarantee economic freedom or vice versa Tap here to launch this special feature Source link

We are fast approaching that critical time of the year when investors must place their bets for 2019. It will be no easy task as investors face a battery of negative forces, adverse headwinds and a sense that the world is sinking into complete confusion. As if investors have not already been through enough hell and high water in the past decade, there is a prevailing sense that things are about to go pear-shaped again. As markets become more focused on capital protection and risk aversion, investors will need to…

China’s industrial ambitions have the US on edge. But what has actually come of its plans for global technology domination? Beijing is considering delaying targets in its “Made in China 2025” programme, Bloomberg News reported last week. The road map, which seeks to advance domestic production of critical technology, has been a key bone of contention in President Donald Trump’s trade war. Other reports said China may replace the programme altogether and give foreign companies more access to its market. On the same day, though, the State Council said it…

Embattled financial technology businesses in China, which have come under tightened regulatory scrutiny, are becoming acquisition targets by mainland banks accelerating their digitalisation drive, according to global management consultancy McKinsey. Joe Ngai, managing partner for Greater China at McKinsey, said that tremendous changes are taking place in the mainland’s fintech sector amid the clean-up campaign by regulators to ward off financial risks. “The fintech businesses originally envisioned mounting a challenge on established banks, but the new trend is that more partnerships and acquisitions will be seen as the lenders bank…

Trade wars are easy to start but difficult to stop and should not be wielded as a weapon between countries, Jack Ma, co-founder of Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba, told an international forum in Switzerland on Tuesday. “When trade stops, sometimes the war starts. So trade is the way to stop wars. Trade is the way to build up trust. Trade is not the weapon to fight against each other,” Ma said in the opening panel discussion at the World Trade Organisation Public Forum in Geneva. Alibaba owns the South China…